A Pardoned Turkey Gets Revenge, and November’s Other Must-See Comedy Shorts

Each month, many funny videos are posted to every corner of the internet — from the platform formerly known as Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, TikTok, and sometimes other weird places we’ll have trouble embedding. Because you’re busy living your life, you might miss some of these funny videos and feel left out when others bring them up in conversation. Well, worry not! We’re here to make sure you’re not listening in on conversations but leading them … as long as those conversations are about funny internet videos. Here are our favorite comedy shorts of the month.

“Betsy Helmer Auditioning to Play Elphaba,� by Betsy Helmer

Bringing new meaning to the social-media caption mainstay “wait for it,� this clip from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre sees improviser Betsy Helmer singing the end of “Defying Gravity� in full green makeup. Commitment to the bit, right? Yes, but Helmer has another trick up her sleeve, and you’ll just have to, I guess, wait for it.

“Can You Take a Photo of Us,� by Tiny Idea

In sketch comedy, it’s so hard to come up with a totally unique premise that’s also highly relatable. But to achieve that feat and have it be not only funny but extremely comedically nuanced, too? Come on. That’s a high-flyer. This is the most inventive, inspired short we’ve seen in a while.

“The Golden Bachelorette,� by Mollie Merkel and Rachel Samples

The chameleon-like Mollie Merkel is back (this time with her pal Rachel Samples) in a Golden Bachelor parody that is everything “Can You Take a Photo of Us� isn’t: just some good old-fashioned (truly) silliness performed with love and splendor. Soup jokes and pratfalls — what’s not to love?

“Happy Halloween From All My American Girl Characters,� by Emily August

Ever wanted to watch a funny video retrospective of the American Girl doll collection’s history? Ever thought about mixing that exploration with a heavy dose of LSD? Well, then you’ve come to the right place.

“Men in the Park,� by Josh Tobin

Josh Tobin returns for a second season of men monologuing in a Brooklyn park, following an equally superlative initial run from 2021. New characters and familiar faces alike showcase Tobin’s virtuosic range, all directed with nimble rhythm by Desi Domo. In this first installment, an aging but vigorous male specimen recounts his exploits, such as fending off a Bengal tiger with his baritone voice.

“Nonprofit Boss Post Election,� by Nicole Daniels

Comedian Nicole Daniels’s tone-deaf nonprofit boss has graced these virtual pages before, moving her perfectly vague charitable “mission� forward with passive-aggressive comments to staff and not-so-subtle nods to her one-percenter lifestyle. But this time is different. In the aftermath of a presidential election that nearly tore our great nation apart, she’s tried something different with her usually self-aggrandizing, virtue-signaling character and … Nah, just kidding. She still doesn’t give a shit, and it’s marvelous.

“Pardoned Turkey Returns for Revenge,� by Donald Chang

Just in time for Turkey Day, this character by Don Chang features a turkey pardoned by the president who returns to the farm to settle an old score. “It’s not what I’ve done that needs forgiveness,� the turkey monologues. “It’s what I’m going to do.� A line that goes unbelievably hard for a sketch featuring a dude in a turkey suit choking a man with a makeshift wattle, but there you have it.

“Scoot Down,� by Teeth

Teeth, the riotous new musical by Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs adapted from the 2007 film of the same name, has returned for an open-ended commercial run Off Broadway and is back to regularly dropping tantalizing little clips of the morbid fun it’s offering audiences at New World Stages. In this snippet, Dawn (Alyse Alan Louis) finds herself alone with a sinister gynecologist (Andy Karl) during the extremely dark and funny number “Girls Like You.�

“Trump Voter Feels Betrayed by President After Reading 800 Pages of Queer Feminist Theory,� by The Onion

No matter what your political leanings, the 2024 presidential election was a cultural event that eclipsed all others this November. But for some, like those subversive minds at The Onion, it did more than dominate news feeds. It inspired pure-genius satire.

“When Your BF Plays Recreational Basketball,� by Jamie Linn Watson and Michelle Chan Bennett

Jamie Linn Watson and Michelle Chan Bennett are back playing stylish WAGs (wives and girlfriends of high-profile athletes) who strut around the perimeters of the rec leagues that frequent New York City’s parks. “We never thought he’d get here after he tore his ACL sleeping weird,� one says with knowing pride. If they don’t trip over too many leaves in their heels, they might get to finally go to Buffalo Wild Wings in the offseason.

Like what you saw? Want to be in this monthly roundup? Show us your stuff! 

Luke Kelly-Clyne is a co-head of HartBeat Independent and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours at @LKellyClyne.

Graham Techler has contributed writing to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Send him your videos at @gr8h8m_t3chl3r.

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